Question

Which of the following methods are considered random? (No partial marks will be given).

a)Sampling using random number table to select quadrat coordinates.

b)Place quadrats at pre-determined specific intervals and sample over the entire study area

c)Turn around and  blindly throwing the quadrat

d)Sample all the individuals in study area

e)Have someone arbitrarily call out a set of 2 numbers. Sample at these coordinates.

f)Randomly draw numbers from a bag. These numbers indicate the number of steps you walk from the original starting point to you sampling points.

h)Identify some sections of study area that are representative of the whole study area then randomly place your quadrat into these areas only and sample them.

Answer 1

A sampling technique is called random when the possibility of choosing each sample has an equal probability. Random sampling ensures that each participant of a group has an equal probability of becoming a part of the process of sampling.The sample which is chosen at random represents the total population in an unbiased manner. Therefore, in order to get a complete idea of the study area and ensure that the sampling is random, we should identify some sections of the study area that are representative of the whole study area then randomly place your quadrat into these areas only and sample them.

Therefore, the answer is (H)